Frozen
by Sunlight through Leaves
Summary: A mishap after a battle at the castle of the moon. Kurofai Oneshot


Prize fic for a friend on DA. I know she's on here too, but I don't know what her name is here...eh heh.

Anyway, she requested a Yasha-camp story, so here it is.

OOOOOOOOO

The clash of steel on steel ringing in his ears combined with the grunts of men fighting for their lives provided a rhythmic background to his powerful swings. A howling yell from behind him ended in a gurgle before he even managed to get the edge of his blade around. A feathered shaft protruded from the man's throat, and Ashura's soldier toppled bonelessly from the saddle.

Kurogane whipped back around and snorted as Fai grinned brightly at him even while he was sighting down another arrow looking for his next target.

The battle raged on around them, both sides struggling vainly against the other. Kurogane whirled with a roar, dropping to one knee and slashing upwards to cut his opponent from crotch to throat. Even as he rose to his feet, a second rider charged past him, a long pole tipped with a vicious looking scythe gripped in his hand. The rider rose in his stirrups, swinging the long implement back, and Kurogane's eyes followed the inevitable trajectory that ended with the pale, blond magician. Fai's side was turned to the attacker; his bow was drawn completely back with the feathers brushing against his ear, but his arm was trembling, as if he was desperately willing his fingers to release and unable to gain command of his muscles. All color drained from his face as Kurogane watched, and the mage's lips parted and breathed a single word.

"…Ashura-ou…"

"Fai!" Kurogane shouted, and the other man turned towards the sound far too slowly, the tip of the knocked arrow dipping. "Shit." He swore darkly and reached for the long daggers belted to his hip. He'd never excelled with thrown weapons, always preferring to fight in close combat where his opponent would be given a sporting chance. The first dagger buried itself high in the man's shoulder, forcing him to drop the weapon.

The second missed altogether.

But the commotion drew Fai's attention, and he scrambled to the side as mount and rider thundered past, his foot catching on an exposed root.

The world dissolved around them as Fai fell. Their time at the castle of the moon had expired, and the army was returned to a grove of trees just outside of Yasha's camp to tend to their wounds and rest for another night of battle.

The solid ground that previously would have broken Fai's fall vanished with it, to be replaced with dangerously thin ice that barely covered a deep, fast flowing river that marked the extent of the camp.

"Fai…!" Kurogane leapt from his mount in a desperate attempt to grasp the magician's hand as he disappeared over the embankment.

The ice shattered as Fai collided with it. He struggled to stay at the surface, but the weight of the armor and winter furs that Yasha issued to his army during these cold months dragged him under, and the strong current pulled him farther and farther away from the hole he'd punched in the frozen crust.

Kurogane scrambled down the steep slope and would have continued out onto the ice if a vice-like grip on his upper arm hadn't brought him to a screeching halt. "Lemme go, Kazuo!"

Yasha's second-in-command raised an eyebrow. "The ice is far too thin to support you. We'd just loose you too."

"I'm not just going to let him die." Kurogane snarled back. "Let me go, or I take your hand off and go anyway."

Kazuo's eyes narrowed, but he seemed to take Kurogane at his word and released his hold on the other man.

Without a second hesitation, the shinobi plunged into the river feet-first. It was shallow enough that he could just stand and keep his head above the water, and, by raising his shield in front of him, he could plow through the ice. He thought he could just make out Fai's outline tangled in a downed tree.

The mage was, thankfully, exactly where he suspected. If the other man had not been there, Kurogane probably never would have found him. He smashed the ice around Fai's limp body and managed to untangle the worst of the tree limbs, but the waterlogged clothing combined with the solid armor proved too much. He couldn't move with the current, since the tree blocked their path forward, and Fai's body weighed far too much to pull against the current.

"Kurogane!" A rope slapped against the water next to him, and he spun. Kazuo stood on the bank with one hand on the saddle of his mount. "Tie it around him!"

Even as he finished wrapping the rope around Fai's waist, Kazuo was already directing the steed to step backwards and start dragging them from the icy river.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Kurogane continued to mutter swears as he dumped Fai onto the dirt floor of their tent. The mage's pale skin had taken on a decided blue shade, and ice crystals had started to form at the folds of his clothes. Kurogane peeled off the matted fur and threw it to one of the dark corners of the tent. The armor buckles refused to give, and he drew the remaining blade from his belt and split them before attacking the underlying clothing.

He stripped Fai completely with no thought to propriety or the other man's feelings – Fai had to survive to be able to yell at him – and grabbed one of his spare shirts, roughly toweling the other man dry. His bedroll was the closer of the two, and he tumbled Fai into it.

His wet clothing and armor were the work of a moment, partially because he hadn't been submerged as long as Fai, but mostly because he wasn't fighting an unconscious and unfamiliar body to do it, and he crawled in next to the frozen body.

The magician's body was still as death, his chest barely fluttering with each breath. Though he wasn't much warmer, Kurogane drew the other man against his chest and rubbed the frigid skin vigorously, silently cursing Fai and ordering him to start shivering.

Fai woke slowly in a set of blankets that did not smell like his, in a tangle of decidedly naked arms and limbs and other appendages, and wrapped in a pair of strong arms that seemed determined to keep him in one place.

And the last thing he remembered was closing his eyes in the blissfully cold water and hoping that this would be the end.

What had happened?

The weight on the crook of his shoulder shifted, and a deep voice muttered some nonsensical words into his ear.

"Kuroi?" Even if he didn't understand what was being said, he still recognized the voice.

Kurogane stirred at the sound of part of his name said in Fai's lilting accent. It took a moment for his sleep-fogged brain to remember the events of the previous night. He shot upright, pushing Fai to the ground and checking for signs of frostbite.

Only after he was sure that Fai was completely intact did he raise his gaze to meet that of the magician sprawled under him, and Fai arched an eyebrow at him, looking thoroughly confused.

And only then did he realized – or remember – that both of them were completely unclothed.

"Che." Kurogane pushed to his feet and wrestled himself into enough clothes that he felt safe going outside.

Fai pulled the heavy blanket up around his shoulders as he searched the tent for his own gear. The furs were probably a lost cause for now – they wouldn't be likely to dry out until the days started getting longer again – but his armor would be salvageable if he could find replacement buckles. As he gathered up a shirt and pants, he noticed a second lump shoved into the corner of the tent and slowly pulled the second set of soaked gear towards him. It was definitely Kurogane's, and Fai pressed it to his chest, shivering slightly.

Kurogane had come in after him?

Fai snorted sadly. He couldn't understand why the shinobi kept insisting on saving him. Maybe he'd ask him later. The language barrier may have been a pain at times, but it did allow Fai to say things that would never have passed his lips in any other circumstance.

The magician dragged his clothes on, bundled his armor into his arms, and stepped out into the pale light, intent on sitting in the sun in order to kill the lingering chill that still seeped through his bones.

As he passed Kurogane on the way out, he offered the other man a genuine, albeit, shy smile. "Thank you."

Kazuo dropped down next to him and passed him a steaming mug of tea that Kurogane took gratefully. Yasha's Second eyed Fai as the magician stretched out in the winter sun and worked on replacing the buckles on his armor. "What is he to you?"

Kurogane wrapped still-cold fingers around the glass, "I don't know."

"But you'd risk your life for him?"

"Absolutely."

OOOOOO

Thanks for reading, hope it was slightly enjoyable!


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